Conan O’Brien’s "Tonight Show" continued its ratings resurgence Monday, doubling "Late Show with David Letterman" in adults 18-49 and easily beating Jay Leno’s primetime performance.
"Tonight" averaged a 1.8 rating in Nielsen’s 25 metered markets with demo information, twice as high as Letterman’s 0.9 average and the 1.2 for "Nightline." That’s down a tick from Friday’s recent high of a 1.9 for Conan.
"Late Show" retook its advantage in the broader household average, scoring a 3.2 by that measure vs. a 3.0 for "Tonight." Keep in mind these numbers, along with the demo scores, will shift a bit when final national ratings are released next week.
"Tonight," despite airing much later than "The Jay Leno," continues to outdraw Leno’s soon-to-be-dead show in the demo. Monday’s "Leno" at 10 averaged a 1.3 in the demo, falling by double digits vs. last week — and getting no bump at all from news reports of Leno speaking out about LateNightCrisis2010.
